/isconsin  Free  Library  Commission 
Madison,  Wisconsin 
Circular  of  Information,  No.  6 

Second  Edition 


LEGISLATIVE  REFERENCE 
DEPARTMENT 


MADISON,  WISCONSIN 

January,  1911 


5  F  J54«,a 


Wl5f£ 

cop.  \ 


LEGISLATIVE  REFERENCE 
DEPARTMENT 


I 

LEGISLATIVE  REFERENCE  WORK 

The  Legislative  Reference  Department  of  the  Wiscon¬ 
sin  Library  Commission  was  established  in  a  small  way  in 
1901.  It  became  apparent  at  once  that  the  demands  of 
this  library  were  of  a  peculiar  nature,  which  could  not  be 
readily  met  by  the  ordinary  library  methods  or  by  the 
ordinary  library  material. 

A  plan  was  devised  which  has  been  since  carried  out  as 
far  as  the  resources  given  by  the  legislature  would  permit. 
We  found  that  there  was  no  co-operation  between  the 
different  states  of  this  Union  in  the  matter  of  getting  the 
history  of  legislation.  We  found  that  there  was  a  con¬ 
stant  demand  for  a  history  of  what  had  occurred  in 
Europe  or  in  any  state  of  the  Union,  upon  a  certain  sub¬ 
ject  of  interest  to  the  people  of  this  state.  We  tried  to 
supply  this  demand  by  getting  such  indexes  of  up-to-date 
legislation  as  were  published,  by  getting  the  bills  from 
other  states  as  well  as  the  documents  explanatory  of  legis¬ 
lative  movements  in  other  states,  and  arranging  these 
under  the  subjects  so  they  would  be  immediately  at  the 


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service  of  all  who  desired  to  see  them.  We  soon  found 
that  even  this  material  did  not  solve  the  problem.  We 
found  it  necessary  to  clip  newspapers  from  all  over  the 
country  and  to  put  the  clippings  in  book  form,  to  index 
them  carefully  and  put  them  also  with  the  subjects.  We 
went  over  our  own  bills  and  carefully  indexed  them  back 
for  four  sessions  and  by  noting  the  subjects  which  were 
contained  in  those  bills  we  anticipated  the  problems  with 
which  the  legislature  had  to  grapple.  These  problems  or 
special  subjects  we  carefully  worked  up  through  the  most 
minute  detail.  It  was  comparatively  easy  to  get  laws  and 
court  cases,  but  it  was  a  far  harder  job  to  find  how  those 
laws  were  administered  and  to  find  the  weaknesses  in  them 
and  to  note  as  far  as  possible  how  they  could  be  adapted 
to  our  use  here. 

Our  short  experience  has  taught  us  many  things.  We 
have  been  convinced  that  there  is  a  great  opportunity  to 
better  legislation  through  work  of  this  kind — that  the 
best  way  to  better  legislation  is  to  help  directly  the  man 
who  makes  the  laws.  We  bring  home  to  him  and  near  to 
him  everything  which  will  help  him  to  grasp  and  under¬ 
stand  the  great  economic  problems  of  the  day  in  their 
fullest  significance  and  the  legislative  remedies  which  can 
be  applied  and  the  legislative  limitations  which  exist. 
We  must  take  the  theory  of  the  professors  and  simplify 
it  so  that  the  layman  can  grasp  it  immediately  and  with 
the  greatest  ease.  The  legislator  has  no  time  to  read. 
His  work  is  new  to  him,  he  is  beset  with  routine  work, 
he  has  to  have  conferences  with  his  friends  upon  political 
matters,  he  is  beset  by  office-seekers  and  lobbyists  and  he 
has  no  time  to  study.  If  he  does  not  study  or  get  his 
studying  done  for  him  he  sometimes  falls  a  prey  to  those 


LEGISLATIVE  REFERENCE  DEPARTMENT 


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who  are  looking  out  to  better  their  own  selfish  ends. 
Therefore  we  must  shorten  and  digest  and  make  clear  all 
information  that  we  put  within  his  reach. 

We  must  first  of  all  get  near  to  the  legislator,  even 
as  the  lobbyist  does.  I  do  not  mean  that  we  must 
use  the  evil  methods  of  the  lobbyist,  but  we  must  win 
the  legislator’s  confidence  and  his  friendship  and  under¬ 
stand  him  and  his  prejudices.  We  must  not  be  arro¬ 
gant,  presumptive,  opinionated  or  dogmatic.  We  are 
dealing  with  men  who  are  as  a  rule  keen  and  bright,  who 
as  a  rule  have  made  a  success  of  business  life.  We  must 
always  remember  that  we  are  but  clerks  and  servants 
who  are  helping  these  men  to  gather  data  upon  things 
upon  which  we  have  worked  as  they  have  worked  at  their 
business.  We  must  be  careful  to  keep  our  private  opin¬ 
ions  to  ourselves  and  let  the  evidence  speak  for  itself. 
We  are  not  doing  this  work  to  convert,  but  to  help  and 
to  clear  up.  No  busy  man  can  keep  track  of  legislation, 
and  especially  complex  legislation  of  our  modern  times 
in  one  state,  let  alone  half  a  hundred  states.  It  is  our 
work  to  do  that — to  find  out  the  history  of  particular 
pieces  of  legislation,  to  find  out  how  a  law  works,  to  get 
the  opinions  of  just  lawyers,  professors,  doctors,  publicists 
upon  these  laws  and  to  put  their  opinions  well  digested 
in  such  form  that  it  can  be  readily  used  and  understood 
by  any  legislator  even  in  the  whirl  and  confusion  of  the 
legislative  session. 

Some  essentials  in  carrying  on  this  work  may  be  sum¬ 
marized  briefly: 

1.  The  first  essential  is  a  selected  library  convenient 
to  the  legislative  halls.  This  library  should  consist  of 
well  chosen  and  selected  material.  A  large  library  is 


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apt  to  fail  because  of  its  too  general  nature  and  because 
it  is  liable  to  become  cumbersome.  This  library  should 
be  a  depository  for  documents  of  all  descriptions  relating 
to  any  phase  of  legislation  from  all  states,  federal  gov¬ 
ernment  and  particularly  from  foreign  countries  like  Eng¬ 
land,  Australia,  France,  Germany  and  Canada.  It  should 
be  a  place  where  one  can  get  a  law  upon  any  subject  or  a 
case  upon  any  law  very  quickly.  It  is  very  convenient  to 
have  this  room  near  a  good  law  library.  Books  are  gen¬ 
erally  behind  the  times,  and  newspapers  clippings  from  all 
over  the  country  and  magazines  articles,  courts  briefs  and 
letters  must  supplement  this  library  and  compose  to  a 
large  extent  its  material. 

2.  A  trained  librarian  and  indexer  is  absolutely  essen¬ 
tial.  The  material  is  largely  scrappy  and  hard  to  classify. 
We  need  a  person  with  a  liberal  education,  who  is  orginal, 
not  stiff,  who  can  meet  an  emergency,  and  who  is  tactful 
as  well. 

3.  The  material  is  arranged  so  that  it  is  compact  and 
accessible.  Do  not  be  afraid  to  tear  up  books,  documents, 
pamphlets,  clippings,  letters,  manuscripts  or  other  ma¬ 
terial.  Minutely  index  this  material.  Put  it  under  the 
subjects.  Legislators  have  no  time  to  read  large  books. 
We  have  no  time  to  hunt  up  many  references  in  different 
parts  of  a  library.  They  should  be  together  as  far  as 
possible  upon  every  subject  of  legislative  importance. 

4.  Complete  index  of  all  bills  which  have  not  become 
laws  in  the  past  should  be  kept.  This  saves  the  drawing 
of  new  bills  and  makes  the  experience  of  the  past  cumu¬ 
lative. 

5.  Records  of  vetoes,  special  messages,  political  plat¬ 
forms,  political  literature,  and  other  handy  matter  should 


LEGISLATIVE  REFERENCE  DEPARTMENT 


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be  carefully  noted  and  arranged.  Our  legislator  often 
wants  to  get  a  bill  through  and  we  must  remember  that 
he  often  relies  as  much  upon  political  or  unscientific  ar¬ 
guments  as  we  do  upon  scientific  work.  He  should  be  able 
to  get  hold  of  his  political  arguments  if  he  wants,  and 
the  political  literature  from  all  parties  upon  all  questions 
should  be  kept  near  at  hand. 

6.  Digests  of  laws  on  every  subject  before  the  legisla¬ 
ture  should  be  made  and  many  copies  kept.  Leading 
cases  on  all  these  laws  and  opinions  of  public  men  and 
experts  upon  the  working  of  these  laws  or  upon  the  de¬ 
fects,  technical  or  otherwise,  should  be  carefully  indexed 
and  as  far  as  possible  published  in  pamphlet  form,  with 
short  bibliographies  of  the  subjects  before  the  people. 

7.  The  department  must  be  entirely  non-political  and 
non-partisan  or  else  it  will  be  worse  than  useless.  If  you 
have  the  choice  between  establishing  a  political  depart¬ 
ment  and  no  department  at  all,  take  the  latter. 

8.  The  head  of  the  department  should  be  trained  in 
economics,  political  science,  and  social  science  in  general, 
and  should  have  also  a  good  knowledge  of  constitutional 
law.  He  should,  above  all,  have  tact  and  knowledge  of 
human  nature. 

9.  There  should  be  a  trained  draftsman  connected  with 
the  department — a  man  who  is  a  good  lawyer  and  some¬ 
thing  more  than  a  lawyer,  a  man  who  has  studied  legis¬ 
lative  forms,  who  can  draw  a  bill,  revise  a  statute,  and 
amend  a  bill  when  called  upon  to  do  so.  Such  a  man 
working  with  this  department  and  the  critical  data  which 
it  contains  will  be  absolutely  essential. 

10.  Methods — (a)  Go  to  the  legislator,  make  yourself 
acquainted  with  him,  study  him,  find  anything  he  wants 


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for  him,  never  mind  how  trivial,  accommodate  him  in 
every  way.  Advertise  your  department.  Let  everyone 
know  where  it  is  and  what  it  does.  Go  to  the  committees 
and  tell  them  what  you  can  do  for  them,  (b)  It  is  abso¬ 
lutely  essential  that  you  get  information  ahead  of  time  or 
else  you  will  be  of  no  use  in  the  rush.  Send  a  circular 
letter  out  to  legislators  and  tell  them  you  will  get  any 
material  which  will  help  them  in  their  work  before  the 
session  begins.  The  following  is  a  sample  of  such  a  cir¬ 
cular: 

Madison,  Wis.,  Nov. - 

Dear  Sir:— 

The  Wisconsin  Legislature  of  1901  authorized  the  Wisconsin  Free  Li¬ 
brary  Commission  to  conduct  a  Legislative  Reference  Room,  and  to  gath¬ 
er  and  index  for  the  use  of  members  of  the  legislature  and  the  executive  offi¬ 
cers  of  the  state,  such  books,  reports,  bills,  documents  and  other  material 
from  this  and  other  states  as  would  aid  them  in  their  official  duties. 

We  desire  to  make  such  material  of  the  utmost  use  and  wish  you  to 
call  upon  us  for  any  aid  we  can  give  in  your  legislative  duties. 

If  you  will  inform  us  of  any  subjects  you  wish  to  investigate,  as  far  as 
we  have  the  material,  time  and  means,  we  will  tell  you: 

1.  What  states  have  passed  laws  on  any  particular  subject. 

2.  Where  bills  for  similar  laws  are  under  discussion. 

3.  What  bills  on  any  subject  have  been  recently  introduced  in  our 
legislature. 

4.  Where  valuable  discussions  of  any  subject  may  be  obtained. 

As  far  as  possible  with  our  force  and  means,  we  will  send  you  abstracts 
of  useful  material  and  answer  any  questions  pertaining  to  legislative 
matters. 

It  is  not  our  province  to  convince  members  of  the  legislature  upon 
disputed  points.  We  shall  simply  aid  them  to  get  material  to  study  sub¬ 
jects  in  which  they  are  interested  as  public  officials. 

If  desired,  the  drafting  department  will  be  glad  to  put  your  ideas  into 
bill  form.  Definite  detailed  instructions  must  be  given. 

Make  your  questions  definite.  Our  work  is  entirely  free ,  non-partisan , 
and  non-political,  and  entirely  confidential. 

Yours  truly, 

WISCONSIN  FREE  LIBRARY  COMMISSION, 
Charles  McCarthy,  Chief,  Legislative  Reference  Department 

The  replies  to  such  a  circular  give  you  an  idea  of 
what  is  coming.  Work  for  all  you  are  worth  on  those 


LEGISLATIVE  REFERENCE  DEPARTMENT 


9 


topics,  send  out  thousands  of  circular  letters  to  experts  on 
these  topics,  subscribe  to  clipping  bureaus  if  necessary  to 
secure  critical  data  from  the  public  at  large.  Gather 
statistics  ahead.  Carefully  search  books  for  significant 
and  concise  statements;  if  to  the  point,  copy  or  cut  them  out 
and  index  them.  Go  through  the  court  reports  and  get 
the  best  opinions,  (c)  Get  hold  of  libraries  or  individ¬ 
uals  or  professors  in  other  states  with  whom  you  can  cor¬ 
respond.  Speed  in  getting  things  to  a  committee  or  an 
individual  is  abslutely  necessary.  Do  not  fail  to  use  the 
telegraph.  Get  material,  facts,  data,  etc.,  and  get  it 
quickly  and  get  it  to  the  point,  boil  down  and  digest.  I 
can  say  again,  the  legislator  does  not  know  much  about 
technical  terms;  avoid  them,  make  things  simple  and  clear, 
(d)  Employ  if  you  can  during  the  session  a  good  statisti¬ 
cian.  He  can  be  of  great  service  in  dealing  with  finan¬ 
cial  bills,  in  estimating  accidents  from  machinery,  or  in 
gathering  statistical  data  of  any  kind.  He  should  be  a 
man  who  can  work  rapidly,  accurately  and  to  the  point. 
Throughout  all  of  this  work  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to 
get  all  material  absolutely  upon  the  points  at  issue,  (e) 
Make  arrangements  with  all  libraries  in  your  city  and  li¬ 
braries  elsewhere  for  the  loan  of  books  or  other  material. 
You  should  have  every  sort  of  an  index  in  your  library  as 
well  as  catalogues  of  the  libraries  with  which  you  are  cor¬ 
responding.  (f)  A  correspondence  clerk  and  some  helper 
to  paste  clippings,  mount  letters,  etc.,  are  necessary,  es¬ 
pecially  during  the  legislative  session,  (g)  Keep  your 
place  open  from  early  in  the  morning  till  late  at  night. 
Do  everything  in  your  power  to  accommodate  those  for 
whom  you  work. 

I  believe  that  every  such  library  established  should  try 


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to  specialize  on  one  great  division  of  legislation.  If  one 
place  studies  municipal  government  especially  and  anoth¬ 
er  labor  legislation,  it  would  be  a  very  useful  arrangment, 
as  one  could  go  directly  to  that  library  having  the  most 
expert  knowledge  on  one  subject.  Of  course  a  journal  of 
comparative  legislation  is  necessary  to  bring  this  work  in¬ 
to  co-ordination  in  the  future.  This  Department  in  Wis¬ 
consin  cost  $1,500  for  the  first  year  and  $4,500  a  year  for 
the  next  two  years,  and  now  has  an  appropriation  of 
$15,000  a  year.  The  cost  is  not  large  because  documents 
are  on  the  whole  very  cheap,  and  especially  because  we 
are  near  the  State  Law  Library  and  the  State  Historical 
Society,  which  kindly  lend  us  much  of  their  material. 

In  Wisconsin  the  work  is  divided  into  three  main  divi¬ 
sions:  (l)  The  “comparative,”  which  includes  the  gather¬ 
ing  of  laws  and  cases  from  all  over  the  world  upon  the 
legislative  subjects,  (2)  the  “critical,”  which  is  especially 
charged  with  the  duty  of  gathering  critical  data  upon  the 
kworing  of  laws,  and  (3)  the  “constructive,”  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  assisting  in  the  work  of  drafting  legislation,  with 
evidence  already  mentioned  at  hand  for  referance. 

II 

SCOPE  AND  METHODS 

Will  such  a  department  help  in  the  betterment  of  leg- 
lislation? 

Let  us  consider  for  a  moment  how  a  law  is  actually 
made. 

John  Jones  comes  to  the  legislature.  He  is  a  good 
citizen,  a  man  of  hard  sense,  well  respected  in  his  com¬ 
munity.  He  enters  suddenly  from  the  quiet  of  his  native 


LEGISLATIVE  REFERENCE  DEPARTMENT 


11 


village  into  a  new  life.  He  comes  to  live  in  a  new  com¬ 
munity.  He  is  dogged  about  and  worried  by  office  seek¬ 
ers.  His  old  friends  and  advisers  are  not  around  to  help 
him.  He  finds  that  it  is  necessary  for  him  to  learn  the 
ropes.  He  finds  that  if  he  is  to  represent  his  district  he 
must  introduce  bills,  and  that  he  must  in  some  way  get 
those  bills  through  the  legislature.  He  must  first  of  all 
get  those  bills  drawn,  and  never  having  drawn  a  bill  in 
his  life,  and  not  knowing  how  such  things  should  be 
done,  it  is  very  hard  work  for  him.  He  is  confronted 
with  two  thousand  bills  on  two  thousands  subjects,  legal 
and  economic.  Complex  questions  which  are  not  settled 
by  the  greatest  thinkers  of  to-day  are  hurled  at  his  head. 
Even  scientific  subjects  that  the  chemist  or  the  physician 
or  the  man  of  science  has  had  a  hard  time  to  deal  with 
must  be  met  by  our  John  Jones,  and  that  in  the  hurry 
and  rush  of  committee  work,  and  of  his  efforts  to  take 
care  of  the  multitudinous  duties  placed  upon  him.  If  he  is 
honest,  he  will  try  to  draw  his  bills  himself,  or  else  he 
pays  somebody  to  do  it  for  him;  but  the  easiest  way  is  to 
consult  somebody  else.  He  finds  around  him  bright  men, 
well  paid  lawyers,  men  of  legal  standing,  who  are  willing 
to  help  him  in  every  way.  It  is  easier  to  consult  these 
bright  men;  and  often,  if  he  does  it,  he  is  lost.  It  is  sel¬ 
dom  that  he  finds  a  true  friend.  They  are  there  to  look 
out  for  their  own  interests,  and  John  Jones  is  legitimate 
prey.  To  get  hold  of  him  is  their  business.  If  he  is  hon¬ 
est  and  by  persistent  courage  and  sterling  honesty  fights 
his  way  through,  pushes  his  bills  on  to  become  laws, 
those  bills,  having  to  do  often  with  complex,  technical 
subjects,  and  being  drawn  by  a  man  unskilled  in  law,  are 
thrown  out  by  the  courts. 


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Here  then  is  the  situation.  We  see  the  farmer,  our 
good  groceryman,  even  our  small  country  lawyer,  our 
successful  manufacturer,  our  man  of  business,  grappling  at 
once,  entirely  unprepared,  with  the  problem  of  making  laws 
that  represent  every  phase  of  industrial  life.  A  few  years 
ago  the  simple  legislation  could  be  more  easily  handled 
by  these  men;  but  now  the  great  problems  of  the  railroads, 
the  telegraphs,  the  telephones,  insurance,  the  vast  com¬ 
plex  things  of  our  modern  life,  make  it  simply  impossible 
for  one  man  however  bright  or  educated  he  may  be,  to 
act  intelligently  upon  one-tenth  of  the  subjects  which 
come  before  the  legislature.  When  some  new  invention 
comes  into  being,  legislation  must  deal  with  it;  when  some 
new  situation  comes  up  through  the  growth  of  new  indus¬ 
tries,  then  some  new  law  must  be  made  restraining  or 
encouraging  or  in  some  way  regulating  these  new  con¬ 
ditions.  It  all  goes  to  show  how  unfitted  our  old  repre¬ 
sentative  government  is  to  meet  the  conditions  today, 
and  how  utterly  helpless  any  one  man  is  when  he  has  to 
meet  these  complex  problems. 

Besides  all  these  difficulties  which  I  have  named,  we 
must  not  forget  that  there  are  other  difficulties.  The  fed- 
aral  constitution  was  in  a  way  a  simple  instrument  when 
it  was  made  compared  to  what  it  is  now.  The  unwritten 
constitution  of  the  country,  the  many  decisions  made  by 
our  courts,  have  tended  to  bind  the  action  of  the  state 
and  the  legislators  of  the  state  hand  and  foot. 
Again,  the  increasing  distrust  of  our  legislatures  by 
our  citizens  has  resulted  in  immense  state  constitu¬ 
tions  which  are  nothing  more  than  compiled  statutes, 
filled  with  innumerable  restrictions  upon  the  action  of  the 
legislator.  He  is  restrained  in  every  way  by  the  federal 


LEGISLATIVE  REFERENCE  DEPARTMENT 


13 


constitution,  and  by  his  state  constitution,  and  by  the 
hundreds  and  hundreds  of  cases  interpreting  nearly  every 
word  and  nearly  every  phrase  in  every  law.  Is  it  any  wonder 
then  that  there  is  a  cry  that  the  supreme  court  is  usurping 
legislative  functions  and  is  defeating  the  will  of  the  people? 
Does  it  seem  right  that  our  legislative  opinion  should  be 
molded  by  private  interests  because  private  interests  alone 
know  how  to  present  their  case?  Does  it  seem  right  that 
the  only  help  which  the  legislator  gets  in  his  great  need  is 
that  of  the  people,  who  are  seeking  gain  from  the  very 
laws  he  is  making,  or  who  are  trying  to  prevent  the 
making  of  effective  law? 

A  committee  is  often  a  judicial  body.  It  sits  in  judg¬ 
ment  upon  private  bills.  It  gives  rights  and  franchises 
that  make  men  wealthy  or  deprive  men  of  their  property. 
Yet  this  court  hears  often  but  one  side  of  an  argument, 
and  has  no  means  of  investigating  the  truth  or  untruth  of 
one  statement  made.  Not  only  that,  but  it  is  subjected  in 
its  determinations  to  a  hundred  influences  to  which  no 
judge  is  subjected.  Would  we  allow  such  a  state  of  affairs  in 
our  private  business?  Would  we  tolerate  it  in  our  judiciary? 
How  are  we  prepared  to  make  that  still  greater  activity  of 
government  which  some  call  “paternalism?”  Why,  the 
powerful  interests  do  not  have  to  resort  to  bribery!  Their 
experts  can  win  by  the  irresistible  force  of  argument 
alone.  They  must  hold  the  balance,  for  they  have  the 
brains  of  the  land  and  pay  well  for  them. 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  many  good  people  throw  up 
their  hands  with  joy  and  say,  “Thank  God  the  legislature 
is  over?”  Is  it  not  a  thing  to  be  joked  about.  Our 
papers  make  fun  of  the  legislature  and  its  “freak”  legis- 


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lation,  but  it  is  a  mighty  serious  state  of  affairs  when  a 
people  lose  confidence  in  its  governing  body. 

The  revelations  of  graft  and  corruption  of  the  last  four 
years  should  convince  us  all  that  we  are  up  against  a 
serious  condition,  and  that  we  must  seek  a  positive  remedy 
of  a  more  fundamental  kind  than  has  yet  been  proposed. 
If  these  are  the  conditions  under  which  our  legislative 
opinion  is  formed,  is  it  any  wonder  that  the  will  of  the 
people  is  constantly  defeated?  Is  it  any  wonder  that  our 
laws  are  poor?  Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  clamor  of  public 
opinion  fails  to  be  heard  within  our  legislative  halls?  Is  it 
any  wonder  that  the  making  of  needed  laws  goes  on  so  slow¬ 
ly?  Now  what  is  the  remedy  for  all  this?  We  look  around 
about  us  and  find  our  judiciary  composed  of  the  high  men 
of  the  state.  We  have  the  most  profound  respect  for  our 
judiciary.  We  are  satisfied  with  it.  Our  administrative 
bodies  have  not  yet  reached  that  high  standard,  but  we 
are  every  day  developing  administrative  bodies  which  are, 
notwithstanding  recent  revelations,  becoming  more  and 
more  fit  to  take  charge  of  the  business  of  the  state,  but 
how  about  the  legislature?  Does  it  not  seem  reasonable 
that  the  law,  which  is  the  expression  of  the  will  of  the 
people  and  upon  which  good  administration  is  founded, 
should  be  scientific — should  be  based  upon  the  best  ex¬ 
perience  of  all  mankind?  If  our  administration  is  to  be 
good  administration,  does  it  not  seem  ridiculous  that  the 
supreme  court,  the  highest  legal  talent  in  the  state,  should 
go  on  day  after  day,  year  after  year,  turning  out  decision 
after  decision  upon  laws  which  are  made  often  by  men  who 
have  never  seen  a  law  book?  Does  that  seem  like  busi¬ 
ness?  Does  it  seem  right  that  our  fundamental  law  should 
be  left  to  these  haphazard  conditions?  Does  it  seem  reas- 


LEGISLATIVE  REFERENCE  DEPARTMENT 


15 


onable  that  all  the  talent  should  be  used  in  interpreting 
laws,  in  curing  their  defects,  and  that  absolutely  nothing 
should  be  done  in  a  scientific  way  in  the  making  of  these 
laws?  Why,  in  building  any  kind  of  a  structure  to-day 
we  use  an  architect!  The  construction  of  a  law  is  a  far 
harder  task  than  the  criticism  of  it,  or  even  the  interpreta- 
of  it.  It  involves  the  interpretation  of  it.  It  involves  a 
knowledge  of  the  theory  of  government.  It  involves,  be¬ 
cause  of  the  enlarged  sphere  of  government  to-day  a  sound 
knowledge  of  economic  conditions. 

We  have  heard  a  great  deal  of  condemnation  of  the  legis¬ 
lature.  It  is  easy  and  popular,  too,  to  sneer  and  censure 
and  to  criticise — but  we  have  heard  very  few  suggestions 
as  to  a  remedy  put  forth. 

If  private  forces  maintain  bureaus  of  information  for 
representatives,  let  us  have  public  information  bureaus, 
open  to  private  and  public  interests  alike.  If  it  is  hard  to 
get  information  because  of  the  great  variety  of  subjects 
now  coming  before  our  legislators,  the  only  sensible  thing 
to  do  is  to  get  experts  to  gather  this  material.  If  business 
interests  have  good  lawyers  to  look  after  their  legislation, 
the  people  should  secure  the  same  kind  of  men  to  help 
their  representatives.  If  the  business  interests  secure 
statisticians,  engineers,  and  scientific  men,  then  the  public 
should  do  likewise.  If  great  judges  and  great  lawyers  are 
constantly  working  upon  the  problems  of  interpretion  of 
laws,  then,  surely,  men  of  equal  ability  should  be  consulted 
while  those  laws  are  being  constructed. 

This  work  is  now  going  forward  with  great  strides, 
and  state  after  state  is  taking  it  up.  The  legislators  give 
it  the  most  enthusiastic  support.  In  this  work  is  the 
great  future  of  the  state  library — because  the  state  librar- 


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aries  are  the  legal  store  houses  of  knowledge  for  our  state 
officers  and  legislators.  The  basis  of  the  work  is  essen¬ 
tially  the  storing  and  keeping  of  knowledge  ready  for  use, 
and  is  not  that  the  highest  aim  of  a  library?  Already 
the  Carnegie  Library  at  Pittsburgh  has  a  specialist  to  an¬ 
swer  questions  upon  scientific  subiects.  All  the  state  lib¬ 
rary  needs  is  specialists  of  a  like  nature  for  legislative  sub¬ 
jects.  Again  the  state  library  is  within  the  legislative  cir¬ 
cle  of  which  I  have  spoken.  It  is  now  doing  this  work  to 
some  extent,  and  will  have  only  to  change  its  methods  and 
get  specialists  to  accomplish  the  full  work. 

Again,  the  organization  of  a  new  department  in  the 
state  house,  and  the  duplication  of  books  and  other 
material  should  be  avoided  in  the  interest  of  economy. 
The  state  library  is  established,  has  the  material,  and, 
what  is  better,  is  generally  out  of  politics.  An  extension 
of  the  functions  of  the  state  library  is  all  that  is  necessary 
in  most  cases. 

Now,  what  do  we  expect  from  the  successful  operation 
of  a  system  like  this?  We  hope  that  all  legislation  can  be 
made  better  and  be  put  upon  a  more  scientific  basis.  We 
look  upon  this  as  simply  a  pure  business  operation.  No 
one  here  would  buy  land  in  Texas  without  ever  having  seen 
the  land.  You  might  buy  land  in  a  lake  or  in  the  bed  of 
a  river,  if  you  should  use  such  a  process  as  that;  you 
would  at  least  get  someone  to  look  up  your  title.  But  we 
leave  our  legislators  to  copy  a  Texas  statute  that  may  be 
twenty  years  of  age,  may  have  been  modified  twenty- five 
times,  may  be  entirely  unsuited  to  our  conditions,  and 
which  may  be  in  the  end  unconstitutional — we  let  our  leg¬ 
islators  incorporate  such  statutes  in  our  statute  books 
without  a  protest.  It  seems  merely  common  sense  that 


LEGISLATIVE  REFERENCE  DEPARTMENT 


17 


we  should  get  all  possible  knowledge  relating  to  that  stat¬ 
ute  for  the  use  of  our  legislators.  In  this  way  legislation 
cannot  help  being  bettered;  in  this  way  the  dearly  bought 
experience  of  one  state  is  used  for  the  betterment  of  con¬ 
ditions  in  another  state.  In  this  way  the  best  there  is  can 
be  culled  out  from  the  statutes  throughout  the  country  and 
used  for  the  benefit  of  our  people. 

There  is  a  great  cry  against  our  overloaded  constitu¬ 
tions.  Our  constitutions  have  been  purposely  overloaded, 
because  the  people  who  made  these  constitutions  wished 
to  put  certain  things  in  them  which  could  not  be  over¬ 
turned  by  the  caprice  or  corruption  of  legislators.  As 
time  goes  on  and  people  find  that  there  is  a  scientific  de¬ 
partment  working  with  the  legislature,  then  the  people 
will  gain  gain  confidence  in  the  legislature  and  will 
again  trust  the  legislature. 

There  is  a  widespread  agitation  at  the  present  time  for 
centralization  and  nationalization — a  movement  which 
strives  to  have  one  after  another  of  the  state  functions 
taken  over  by  the  national  government.  We  hear  agita¬ 
tion  about  federal  life  insurance,  we  hear  agitation  about 
national  incorproation  acts,  federal  food  acts  and  various 
forms  of  federal  supervision  of  one  thing  or  another. 

I  only  want  to  point  out  to  you  that  as  our  laws  are 
made  better  in  any  way  these  movements  will  stop.  This 
great  danger  will  be  overcome.  The  best  laws  are  those 
laws  which  are  near  to  the  people  who  make  the  laws  and 
the  only  means  for  saving  our  local  option  system  of 
state  government — the  only  means  of  keeping  the  federal 
government  at  Washington  from  controlling  our  affairs — 
is  to  make  our  state  laws  better  and  better,  and  the  only 
way  in  which  they  can  be  made  better  is  to  have  scientific 


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/ 

method  in  the  making*  of  them.  Every  business  method 
should  be  used  and  technical  clerical  help  should  be  se¬ 
cured  in  order  that  the  man  who  passes  the  laws  can 
have  the  knowledge  before  him  necessary  to  make  laws 
good  and  to  make  laws  just,  and  to  make  laws  stand  for 
all  time. 

If  our  state  legislature  gains  in  the  confidence  of  the 
people,  so  will  our  supreme  court  and  our  judicial  bodies 
gain  in  the  confidence  of  the  people.  Our  courts  will  not 
be  called  upon  to  make  decisions  which  apparently  defeat 
time  and  time  again  the  will  of  the  people.  They  will 
not  be  called  upon  to  turn  down  law  after  law  which  has 
been  put  upon  our  statute  books  often  by  prolonged  and 
patient  struggle.  The  laws  will  be  better  before  they 
come  to  the  courts.  Prevention  is  better  than  cure,  and 
every  effort  we  can  put  into  prevention  in  this  case  will 
make  our  laws  better  and  will  make  it  easier  for  our 
courts  to  decide  upon  the  true  merits  of  the  laws.  De¬ 
cisions  based  upon  technicalities  will  be  less  in  number. 
Our  judiciary  will  continue  to  be  respected  and  honored. 

Says  the  Montana  Bar  Association  in  a  recent  report: 
“The  time  of  the  court  is  consumed  in  hearing  discussions 
upon  statutory  enactments  and  determining  what  law  is  in 
force  and  what  has  been  repealed.  Litigation  is  thus  de¬ 
layed,  additional  expense  engendered  and  private  rights 
rendered  insecure.”  What  is  the  remedy  for  such  con¬ 
ditions?  Do  these  conditions  not  demand  that  the  same 
skill  used  in  interpreting  the  law  should  be  used  in  its 
construction? 

We  have  recently  seen  the  work  of  the  Armstrong  In¬ 
vestigating  Committee  in  New  York.  No  insurance  law 
ever  passed  in  this  country  had  so  much  effect  upon  in- 


LEGISLATIVE  REFERENCE  DEPARTMENT 


19 


surance  regulation.  That  report  was  made  by  legislators 
and  not  by  state  officials.  We  are  constantly  crying  out 
today  against  the  innumerable  state  boards  that  are  being 
created.  Boards  have  been  created  licensing  barbers,  and 
licensing  every  trade  and  occupation.  We  object  to  the 
increase  of  commission  government,  and  yet  commission 
government  has  increased  because  it  has  been  felt  for 
some  time  that  the  only  way  of  enforcing  laws,  the  only 
way  of  doing  special  duties,  was  to  do  them  by  the  cre¬ 
ation  of  new  boards.  And  yet  this  Armstrong  Committee 
shows  us  a  way  of  making  laws  and  enforcing  laws, 
which  is  better  than  boards  and  commissions.  If  <we 
have  some  department  working  with  our  legislature,  and 
have  that  department  work  outside  of  the  sessions  with 
investigating  committees,  then  we  can  be  sure  that  there  is 
always  a  check  upon  the  action  of  our  boards  and  com¬ 
missions  and  that  there  is  always  at  hand  a  remedy  for 
evil  in  the  hands  of  the  people  themselves.  They  can  al¬ 
ways  ask  for  an  investigating  committee,  and  the  report 
of  that  committee  will  result  in  good,  sound  law. 

At  the  present  time,  in  nearly  all  of  our  states,  an  able 
lawyer  will  go  before  a  committee  composed  of  good 
farmers  and  good  merchants  and  sometimes,  though  he 
may  not  speak  the  truth,  that  committee  is  absolutely  at 
the  mercy  of  that  man.  He  can  tell  them  privately  or  be¬ 
fore  the  committee  that  a  certain  bill  is  unconstitutional, 
or  has  been  a  failure  where  tried.  He  can  defy  individ¬ 
ual  members  to  answer  him.  He  has  behind  him  some¬ 
times  many  clerks  to  gather  statistics  of  all  sorts  for 
his  use  before  that  committee.  What  has  that  committee 
to  do  under  the  circumstances,  and  what  can  the  individ¬ 
ual  member  of  that  committee  do  under  those  circum- 


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stances?  What  could  you  do  under  those  circumstances? 
Of  course  the  committeeman  does  not  want  to  make  him¬ 
self  ridiculous,  and  sets  the  business  forth  in  a  half-hearted 
report,  or  acquiesces  in  the  statements  of  the  attorney  be¬ 
fore  the  committee.  If  a  department  existed  entirely 
non-partisan  and  non-political,  composed  of  men  of  abil¬ 
ity  then  there  is  no  reason  why  that  committee  could  not 
require  briefs  to  be  filed  before  them  and  ask  the  help  of 
this  department.  Then  it  would  be  harder  fb  deceive  by 
misstatements.  Then  anyone  could  investigate  for  him¬ 
self  if  he  was  honest  and  wanted  to  do  his  duty. 

As  to  our  own  department  in  Wisconsin,  I  do  not  want 
you  to  have  the  impression  that  we  are  trying  to  influence 
our  legislators  in  any  way,  that  we  are  upon  one  side  or 
another  upon  any  question,  or  that  we  are  for  or  against 
somebody  or  something.  We  are  merely  a  business 
branch  of  the  government.  I  do  not  want  you,  either, 
to  think  that  we  are  dictating  legislation.  We  are  not. 
We  are  merely  servants  of  the  good,  able  and  honest  leg¬ 
islators  of  our  state.  We  are  merely  clerks  to  gather  and 
index  and  put  together  the  information  that  these  busy 
men  desire.  It  is  merely  a  business  proposition.  I  do 
not  want  to  deceive  you,  and  to  have  you  think  that  we 
have  done  more  than  we  have  in  Wisconsin.  We  have  as 
yet  but  a  small  department.  But  I  believe  that  this  work 
has  had  a  decided  effect  upon  legislation  in  Wisconsin. 
I  can  say  truly  it  is  popular  with  all  members  of  the  legisla¬ 
ture.  We  have  answered  thirty  or  forty  questions  a  day 
upon  various  topics.  As  soon  as  a  question  relating  to 
the  quality  of  diphtheria  antitoxin  or  some  other  diffi¬ 
cult  subject  comes  before  the  legislature,  hundreds  of  let¬ 
ters  go  out  from  our  department  to  the  great  schools  of 


LEGISLATIVE  REFERENCE  DEPARTMENT 


21 


medicine,  to  the  great  hospitals,  and  to  the  scientists  who 
have  knowledge  upon  that  subject.  The  results  of  their 
investigations  are  placed  before  our  committee  in  concise 
form.  So  question  after  question  is  investigated  in  as 
scientific  manner  as  our  time  and  means  allow  us.  It  is 
our  duty  to  gather  every  bit  of  scientific  data  from  what¬ 
ever  source.  The  legislator  sometimes  does  not  know 
where  be  gets  the  information.  The  professor  of  eco¬ 
nomics,  the  professor  of  political  science,  the  public  man, 
the  chemist  or  scholar  does  not  know  where  it  goes.  The 
great  body  of  public  men  throughout  the  country  can  be 
drawn  upon  for  information  to  help  our  legislators.  Com¬ 
mittees,  too,  realize  the  worth  of  this  research  work,  and 
a  large  number  of  the  bills  before  them  are  investigated 
by  this  department.  Committees  working  upon  abstract 
and  technical  subjects  have  at  their  hands  in  concise  form 
letters  and  opinions  and  other  data,  from  all  over  the 
country,  from  experts  upon  the  particular  subjects  on 
which  the  committee  is  working.  We  feel  that  we  have 
done  very  little  but  that  at  least  we  have  done  something 
where  nothing  was  done  formerly. 


Ill 

SOURCES  OF  MATERIAL 

Most  of  the  material  essential  to  the  Legislative  Refer¬ 
ence  Department  can  be  readily  obtained,  with  compara¬ 
tively  little  cost.  Probably  half  is  documentary  in  its 
nature,  and  a  request  forwarded  to  the  proper  source  al¬ 
most  invariably  meets  with  prompt  and  generous  response, 
from  both  United  States  offices  and  various  state  depart- 


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ments.  An  appeal  to  the  Secretary  of  State  or  to  the  heads 
of  the  various  state  departments  for  copies  of  the  reports, 
bulletins,  or  publications  of  a  state  is  never  refused,  if  it  is 
known  that  the  value  of  such  documents  is  appreciated 
and  that  they  will  be  made  available  for  public  use.  This 
class  of  material  costs  nothing,  except  postage,  and  oc¬ 
casionally,  express  charges,  and  is'"  of  the  utmost  value 
and  unobtainable  elsewhere. 

The  proceedings  of  the  various  local  and  national  socie¬ 
ties,  together  with  their  special  reports  and  bulletins,  are 
very  desirable  and  many  of  these  may  be  obtained  by^ap- 
plying  either  to  the  secretaries  or  to  the  local  members, 
who  will  be  glad  to  furnish  such  material.  Societies  which 
deal  with  economics,  political  science,  law,  commerce  and 
industry,  municipal  problems,  and  labor  organizations 
have  been  formed  to  investigate  these  subjects,  and  to 
forward  the  interests  of  all  concerned  therein.  They  are 
glad  to  have  their  ideas  and  policies  placed  where  they 
will  be  given  publicity  and  be  used  most  profitably. 

By  keeping  in  close  touch  with  the  views  and  interests 
of  the  legislators,  we  learn  of  many  individuals  whose  in¬ 
terests  are  along  specific  lines  and  who  devote  their  time 
to  special  subjects.  To  these  men,  as  individuals,  we 
apply  for  helpful  suggestions,  not  only  as  to  material  but 
also  as  to  criticisms  upon  particular  laws,  and  from  them 
we  receive  many  gifts  of  pamphlets  and  material  which 
could  scarcely  be  obtained  in  any  other  way. 

The  newspapers  furnish  a  source  of  inexpensive  and  in¬ 
valuable  material.  Clippings  from  the  newspapers  of  dif¬ 
ferent  parts  of  the  country  should  be  arranged  and  classi¬ 
fied  the  same  as  pamphlets.  Perhaps  some  local  newspaper 
will  be  willing  to  contribute  its  exchanges.  In  this  way 


LEGISLATIVE  REFERENCE  DEPARTMENT 


23 


one  can  keep  the  department  in  touch  with  public  opinion 
not  only  in  its  own  locality,  but  throughout  the  entire 
country. 

There  are  some  periodical  publications  which  can  be  se¬ 
cured  as  gifts  or  at  very  small  expense;  these  may  be 
clipped  and  the  material  put  upon  the  shelves  according  to 
subject.  A  useful  subscription  list  should  be  judiciously 
chosen  and  care  must  be  taken  to  keep  this  list  within  a 
reasonable  amount. 

Finally,  if  information  upon  a  particular  phase  of  a 
given  subject  is  wanted,  in  order  to  meet  some  special  de¬ 
mand,  a  circular  letter  sent  to  experts  or  officials  is  to  be 
recommended.  This  brings  information  absolutely  un¬ 
available  in  books  with  practically  no  cost  and  the  re¬ 
turns  may  be  mounted  and  put  into  pamphlet  form  im¬ 
mediately. 

There  aro  some  books  which  one  must  buy,  but  a  most 
creditable  and  useful  collection  can  be  made  at  a  cost  so 
small  that  it  puts  a  department  of  this  type  in  a  unique 
position  in  the  library  world. 

The  important  consideration  in  the  gathering  of  material 
is  not  the  amount  of  money  involved,  but  the  patience  and 
time  required  in  writing  many  letters  to  the  proper  sources 
and  the  judgment  and  discretion  required  in  retaining  that 
which  is  truly  “worth  while.” 


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IV 

•v 

MUNICIPAL  REFERENCE  LIBRARIES 

The  Legislative  Reference  Department  is  just  as  neces¬ 
sary  for  a  city  as  for  a  state.  If  the  problems  with  which 
city  officials  must  grapple  are  to  be  wisely  solved,  if  each 
city  is  to  benefit  by  the  success  of  other  cities  and  profit 
by  their  failures,  city  officials  must  have  access  to  all  the 
available  information  and  data  to  be  had  upon  these  vari¬ 
ous  subjects.  They  must  have  expert  help  at  hand  if  bud¬ 
gets  are  to  be  examined  or  information  gathered  of  a  scien¬ 
tific  nature. 

Recognizing  these  facts  and  that  such  information  is 
both  difficult  to  obtain  and  hard  to  keep  up  to  date,  Munic¬ 
ipal  Reference  Departments  or  Municipal  Research  De¬ 
partments  have  been  established  in  many  of  our  large  cities; 
New  York,  Boston,  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  Cincinnati, 
Kansas  City,  Milwaukee  and  many  others.  Some  are  public 
but  many  are  maintained  by  private  sources. 

But  every  city  cannot  maintain  such  a  department.  The 
universities  of  Illinois  and  Wisconsin  have  established 
Municipal  Reference  Bureaus  and  the  State  Library  of  Cali¬ 
fornia  has  a  Municipal  Refereuee  Bureau  in  connection 
with  its  State  Legislative  Reference  Library.  Many  city 
libraries  are  establishing  Municipal  Reference  Departments 
as  a  branch  of  their  library  system. 

That  there  is  ample  room  for  a  service  of  this  kind  in  a 
municipality  is  clear  to  all  who  are  familiar  with  the  hapha¬ 
zard  methods  that  are  too  often  pursued  in  the  enactment 
of  ordinances. 


LEGISLATIVE  REFERENCE  DEPARTMENT 


25 


In  no  branch  of  public  endeavor  is  more  substantial  prog¬ 
ress  being  made  than  in  the  government  of  cities,  and  to 
advance  intelligently  information  must  be  gathered  on 
questions  of  municipal  importance,  and  scientifically  ap¬ 
plied. 

y 

WISCONSIN  LAW 

Section  3V3f,  chapter  168,  laws  of  1901,  as  amended  by 
chapter  238,  laws  of  1903.  The  said  commission  is  also 
authorized  and  directed  to  maintain  in  the  state  capitol, 
for  the  use  and  information  of  the  legislature,  the  several 
state  departments,  and  such  other  citizens  as  may  desire 
to  consult  the  same,  a  legislative  reference  room  and  a 
small  working  library,  as  complete  as  may  be,  of  the  sev¬ 
eral  public  documents  of  this  and  other  states,  and  to 
purchase  for  said  library,  standard  works  of  use  and  ref¬ 
erence.  The  said  commission  is  also  hereby  authorized 
and  directed  to  co-operate,  during  sessions  of  the  legisla¬ 
ture,  with  the  secretary  and  superintendent  of  the  state 
historical  society  of  Wisconsin,  as  trustee  of  the  state, 
with  a  view  to  a  joint  arrangement,  by  which  the  needs  of 
the  legislature  in  the  matter  of  general  books  of  reference 
may  be  met  to  the  fullest  possible  extent;  and  said  com¬ 
mission  shall  give  such  space  within  its  rooms  to  books 
brought  to  the  capitol  by  said  society  for  such  purpose,  as 
may  be  jointly  agreed  upon  between  them.  The  librarian 
of  the  state  library  and  the  officers  of  state  departments 
are  hereby  authorized  to  give  or  loan  to  the  free  library 
commission  for  the  use  of  the  legislative  reference  room 


26 


WISCONSIN  FREE  LIBRARY  COMMISSION 


such  books  and  documents  as  will  be  useful  in  that  room. 
The  said  free  library  commission  is  also  authorized  to 
give  or  loan  to  the  state  historical  society  or  to  the  state 
departments  any  books  and  documents  except  those  in 
current  use  in  the  legislative  reference  room. 

Section  373i  of  the  statutes,  as  amended  by  chapter 
238  laws  of  1903,  chapter  177,  laws  of  1905,  and 
chapter  508,  laws  of  1907,  is  amended  Ao  read:.  Sec¬ 
tion  373i,  1.  For  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  the 
provisions  of  this  act,  there  shall  be  and  is  hereby 
annually  appropriated  to  the  Wisconsin  free  library  com¬ 
mission,  from  any  money  in  the  general  fund  not  other¬ 
wise  appropriated,  the  sum  of  fifteen  thousand  dollars, 
and  any  balance  not  expended  in  any  one  year  may  be 
added  to  the  expenditure  for  the  next  ensuing  year. 

2.  Out  of  the  above  appropriation  the  sum  of  six  thous¬ 
and  dollars  shall  be  set  aside  for  the  period  of  each  legis¬ 
lative  session  and  the  period  of  two  months  just  preceding 
each  legislative  session  for  the  purpose  of  employing 
draughtsman  and  extra  help  in  the  draughting  of  bills. 

3.  The  remainder  of  the  appropriation  shall  be  used 
for  the  carrying  out  of  the  provisions  of  this  act  and  for 
indexing  session  laws,  indexing  the  statutes,  indexing  of 
private  and  special  laws,  indexing  bills  and  also  for  in¬ 
dexing  documents  and  journals  from  the  beginning  of  the 
history  of  the  state. 


LEGISLATIVE  REFERENCE  DEPARTMENT 


27 


VI. 

REFERENCES 

Briggs,  Walter  B.  The  public  library  and  the  city  gov¬ 
ernment,  or  what  public  libraries  should  do  for  mu¬ 
nicipal  departments  and  officials.  The  Library  Jour¬ 
nal,  vol.  33,  no.  10,  Oct.  1908. 

Brindley,  John  E.  The  legislative  reference  movement. 
The  Iowa  Journal  of  History  and  Politics,  Jan.  1909. 

Bryce,  Hon.  James.  The  methods  and  conditions  of  leg¬ 
islation  in  our  time;  an  address  delivered  before  the 
New  York  State  Bar  Association,  Jan.  24,  1908. 
Columbia  Law  Review,  vol.  8,  no.  3,  March,  1909, 
pp.  157-171. 

Department  of  legislative  reference.  Baltimore. 
(Pamphlet  of  43  p.  privately  printed  by  the  depart¬ 
ment,  Feb.  26,  1907.) 

Dudgeon,  Matthew  S.  Wisconsin  legislative  library. 
Yale  Review,  Nov.  1907. 

Flack,  Dr.  Horace  E.  Municipal  reference  libraries. 
Proceedings  of  the  National  Municipal  League,  1908, 
pp.  308-316. 

Lapp,  John  A.  Legislative  reference  department.  The 
Public  Officials  magazine,  vol.  2,  no.  1,  July,  1910. 

McCarthy,  Charles.  Legislative  reference  bureau.  The 
City  Club  Bulletin,  vol.  2,  no.  16,  Dec.  9,  1908. 

- Remedies  for  legislative  conditions.  Proceed¬ 
ings  of  the  American  Political  Science  Association, 
1907. 


28 


WISCONSIN  FREE  LIBRARY  COMMISSION 


- Wisconsin’s  Legislative  Reference  department. 

(Proceedings  of  the  National  Association  of  State 
Librarians,  June  30,  1906). 

Municipal  Reference  Bureau  (University  ofWisconsin 
Extension  Bulletin,  Sept.  1909). 

Philips,  John  Burton.  Scientific  Assistance  in  law-mak¬ 
ing,  University  of  Colorado  Studies,  vol.  Y,  no.  1, 
Dec.  1907. 

Ranck,  Samual  H.  Municipal  Legislative  Reference  Li¬ 
braries:  Should  they  be  established  and  maintained 
as  a  part  of  the  Public  Library  of  a  city,  or  as  an 
independent  department  or  organization.  The  Library 
Journal,  August,  1909. 

- - The  public  library  as  a  part  of  the  Munci- 

pal  government.  Public  Libraries,  vol.  12,  no.  10, 
Dec.  1907. 

Reinsch,  Paul  S.  American  legislatures  and  legislative 
methods.  1907.  pp.  295-298. 

Sanborn,  John  Bell.  Some  recent  legislative  tendencies. 
Columbia  Law  Review,  vol.  8,  no.  5,  May,  1908. 

Snodgrass,  Robert.  Legislative  assistance.  Proceedings 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Bar  Association,  1908,  pp.  3-39. 

Whitten,  Robert.  Comparative  legislative  in  legislative 
reference  work.  Proceedings  of  the  National  as¬ 
sociation  of  State  Librarians,  June  30,  1906. 

Woodroff,  Clinton  Rogers.  Legislative  reference  work 
and  its  opportunities.  (Bulletin  of  the  American 
Library  Association,  Sept.  1908,  pp.  278-283). 


LEGISLATIVE  REFERENCE  DEPARTMENT 


29 


Publications  of  the  Commission 

American  social  questions  (bibliographies) 

1  Negro  problem 

2  Immigration 

3  Labor 

4  Poverty 

*  5  Wealth 

6  Business  morals 

-  Anniversaries  and  holidays 
Biennial  report,  v.  1-8 

^  Check  list  of  journals  and  pubic  documents  of  Wise 
Circulars  of  information 

1  Establishing  a  library,  first  steps 

2  How  to  secure  a  traveling  library 

3  Suggestions  for  library  rules  and  regulations 

4  Magazines  for  the  small  library 

5  Campaigning  for  a  public  library 

6  Legislative  reference  department 

7  Traveling  libraries  in  Wisconsin 

Legislative  reference  department  bulletins: 

1  Railway  coemployment 

2  Lobbying 

3  Corrupt  practices  at  elections  (out  of  print) 

4  Exemption  of  wages 

5  Municipal  electric  lighting  (out  of  print) 

6  Trust  company  reserves  (out  of  print) 

7  Taxation  of  trust  companies  (out  of  print) 

8  Municipal  gas  lighting  (out  of  print) 

9  Boycotting  (out  of  print) 

10  Blacklisting  (out  of  print) 

11  Initiative  and  referendum  (see  no.  21) 

12  The  recall  (out  of  print) 

13  Primary  elections 

14  Proportional  representation 

15  Juvenile  courts 

16  Telephones:  interchange  of  service 

17  Mortgage  taxation 

18  Municipal  home  rule  charters 

19  Tenement  house  legislation,  state  and  local 

20  Accident  insurance  for  workingmen 

21  Initiative  and  referendum:  state  legislation 

22  Certified  public  accountants 


in,  1903 


30  WISCONSIN  FREE  LIBRARY  COMMISSION 


Instructional  department  pamphlets: 

1  Wisconsin  library  school,  1909-10 

2  Short  course,  library  school,  1910 

3  Picture  collections  in  small  libraries’ 

4  Supplementary  course,  library  school,  1908 

5  Commercial  geography 

6  Books  on  missions 

7  How  to  care  for  books  in  a  library 

Miscellaneous  pamphlets: 

Laws  of  Wisconsin  relating  to  libraries  and  the  free  li¬ 
brary  commission 

Library  extension,  by  E.  A.  Birge,  1905 
One  hundred  popular  German  books 
Some  Wisconsin  library  buildings 
Study  outlines,  nos.  1-23 

Wisconsin  library  bulletin  (bi-monthly),  January,  1905,  to 
date 


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